We are thrilled to announce that the OCMC Soup Luncheon in support of our missionaries in Romania and Guatamala is back this Palm Sunday, April 25. Soup will also be available for purchase after Divine Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday, April 24, from 12pm-1pm.
The soup luncheon on Palm Sunday will be strictly take out, but we promise to offer some tasty and nutritious soups which will fortify you during Holy Week. As we were not able to host a soup luncheon last Advent, we hope you will all be very generous in your donations which support the worthy efforts by these missionaries. By the way, there is an anonymous donor who has offered to match the total of all donations up to $1000.
UPDATE: Thanks to your generosity, we now have plenty of soup and don't need any more! We're also pleased to announce that, if weather cooperates, soup will be in containers outside on tables and even if you don’t attend church services that day, we invite you to come by to get some soup and support our missionaries in Romania and Guatemala.
Here is a short bio of the missionaries we support.
Romania
Mrs. Ancuta Franz is a native Romanian and is the director of the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center. Started through OCMC in 2005, the Protection Center is aimed at the prevention of child abandonment. According to official Romanian statistics, in 2006 there were over 7,000 children abandoned by their families in Romania. Ancuta's day-care and counseling project works in conjunction with the local child protection agency and the Orthodox Church to minister to new mothers by offering counseling and material support so that they will not abandon their children due to poverty or feelings of hoplessness. Currently the center is serving 18 children and their mothers.
Guatemala
Jesse and Juanita are a missionary couple working in Central America through the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) under the blessing of His Eminence Athenagoras, Metropolitan of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Jesse is from Michigan and studied theology at St. Vladimir's Seminary (M.Div, 2013) and Holy Cross School of Theology before moving to Guatemala in 2015. He now directs the Department of Education in Missions and Evangelism for the Metropolis of Mexico. Juanita grew up in Guatemala and worked as a community health worker before beginning medical school in 2017. She plans to serve as a doctor in Guatemala after graduating from medical school.
Thank you!
Dsa. Tanya Danilchick
